Turkey’s September polymer imports hit all-time-high

According to ChemOrbis Import Statistics, Turkey’s total polymer imports were up by 2.6% in September on a monthly basis to around 482,000 tons. The country’s polymer imports posted a larger increase of 42% on a yearly basis. The imports in September were an all-time-high on a monthly basis while cumulative imports for the first 9 months of this year also suggested the highest imports volume since 2000.

The top polymer exporters to Turkey remained as Saudi Arabia with 114,047 tons, followed by South Korea (53,070 tons), Iran (39,061 tons), Egypt (24,970 tons) and Belgium (24,185 tons) in September.

Homo-PP imports were up by 9.5% to 164,199 tons compared to August while they spiked 34% from the same month of 2016. Saudi Arabia remained as the top homo-PP exporter in September with 67,249 tons, followed by Egypt (17,088 tons), South Korea (14, 533 tons), India (10,449 tons) and Israel (7,889 tons).

For PP copolymer, meanwhile, Turkey’s September imports plunged by 36% on the month to 26,587 tons while they increased 16% compared with the same month of 2016. Saudi Arabia took over South Korea to become the top PP copolymer supplier to Turkey with 8,516 tons in September.

Imports for LLDPE were slightly up by 0.7% on the month while they rose 39% year-over-year to 45,164 tons in September. Saudi Arabia was the top supplier of LLDPE for another month with 15,575 tons, followed by Iran (7, 189 tons) and Singapore (6,600 tons). In the meantime, Turkey imported 7,327 tons of mLLDPE in September, up 15% from August.

Imports for LDPE were down 23% month over month to 18,010 tons in September. Imports were also down by 31% compared to the same month of 2016. Saudi Arabia was the top supplier of Turkey with 3,087 tons, followed by Qatar (2,134 tons) and Belgium (2,015 tons).

HDPE imports were up by 6% in September on a monthly basis to 65,109 tons while they soared by 44% from a year earlier. Saudi Arabia remained the top supplier with 14,466 tons, followed by Iran (13,736 tons) and South Korea (12,860 tons)

Turkey’s PVC imports increased 15% from a month earlier to 74,967 tons in September. On a yearly basis, PVC imports were up 31%. The top PVC suppliers were France (13,909 tons), the US (9,601 tons) and Spain (8,049 tons).

Regarding styrenics, Turkey imported 24,283 tons of PS in September, down by 6% on the month but up 33% on the year. Belgium remained the top supplier with 7,368 tons of exports. ABS imports declined 3.7% month over month to 12,519 tons in September, whereas they surged 41% on a yearly basis. South Korea remained as the top supplier by landslide with 7.513 tons in September.

Meanwhile, Turkey’s September imports for PET bottle dropped by 19% month over month to 20,953 tons. They spiked 79% on a yearly basis, however.

To track Turkey’s imports by country, please click here (For members only)

To track Turkey’s imports by product, please click here (For members only)